In praying the Daily Office recently I noticed the Psalm was printed like this: "Psalm 68:1-20(21-23)24-36".
Those of us familiar with the Book of Common Prayer know
what those parentheses mean. In essence, feel free to read from verses
1-20, skip that bit between 21-23, pick back up at verse 24, and finish
reading at verse 36.
Verses 21-23 are optional.
But why?
Generally,
when you see those parentheses in the lectionary you're being warned
that you are about to encounter one of those dark and difficult texts in
the Bible and that you might, depending upon the situation (kids, you
know, might be listening in), want to read around those passages.
I hate it when they skip over bits like that.
Make no doubt about it: Psalm 68 has some rough bits in it. Right where the BCP said it would, in fact. But in the midst of the darkest spots, there's Light. That is, when I read this psalm Christologically, it becomes even more interesting.
Recently, a friend and I have been going back and forth about what to do with these texts. On the surface of them, texts like this certainly don't really make reading the Bible all that palatable for moderns. I keep insisting there are other ways -- more importantly, Christological ways -- of reading the text, that reframe the way in which we understand them. Usually, that falls on deaf ears, precisely because most churches don't encourage this sort of reading. So I thought I'd give it a try here.
Psalm
68 is one of those songs where the writer is praising God for a victory
over enemies. So the opening verses are cheery enough for most folks
to pray.
It's not "bad" (that is to say, unpalatable) -- until verses 21-23. Then:
Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,Okay, you got me -- those are some of the darkest lines in the Bible.
the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.
The Lord says, "I will bring them from Bashan;
I will bring them from the depths of the sea,
that your feet may wade in the blood of your foes,
while the tongues of your dogs have their share."
And it doesn't get much better if you swap translations, either. Trust me, I checked.
So
we have here God smashing skulls and putting the defeated enemies
before us so that we might wash our feet in their blood and have our
dogs -- so they get their share! -- lick up the blood as well.
Yeah. I have some issues with a cursory reading of Psalm 68.
But — and this is going to get significant — Psalm 68 reappears in the New Testament!
Specifically, Psalm 68 is quoted in the New Testament in the book of Ephesians (4.1-13):
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:
"When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people."That phrase -- "When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people" -- is from Psalm 68, from the verses right before the infamous lines in verses 21-23, at verses 17-20
(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
The chariots of God are tens of thousandsIn short, the writer of Ephesians is reading Psalm 68 Christologically. The victory over enemies in Psalm 68 is the victory won by Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection. When Jesus "ascended on high" he took with him "many captives".
and thousands of thousands;
the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.
When you ascended on high,
you took many captives;
you received gifts from people,
even from the rebellious --
that you, Lord God, might dwell there.
Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.
Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.
So who were these captives?
If Jesus "ascended" then he would have had to have previously "descended" to the "lower, earthy regions". Is this a reference to the Incarnation? Or
to Jesus' decent into hell after this death?
Many
in the early church took this passage in Ephesians to be a reference to
the latter, about the harrowing of hell where Jesus breaks open the
gates of hell and releases a captive humanity.
Regardless, the victory described in Psalm 68 is being read Christologically, as a reference to the defeat of Christ's enemies -- death, sin and the Devil. This sort of violent, martial imagery in
reference to the cross is used in other places in the NT. For example,
Colossians 2.15: "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he
made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross".
The
phrase "public spectacle" refers to the victory parade of a conquering
Caesar or King returning to the capital city displaying the spoils and
captives of war before a cheering and adoring citizenry. On the cross
Jesus is leading just such a victory parade, displaying his captives,
the disarmed "powers and authorities". The imagery of Psalm 68, even
verses 21-13, fits this picture.
What's so startling about this Pauline rereading of Psalm 68 is the nonviolence of Jesus' victory over enemies.
Let that sink in.
On the cross Jesus is disarming and defeating his enemies -- sin, death and the Devil -- and taking them as captives in war.
All the more reason to pray verses 21-24 in Psalm 68, don't ya think?